Who would have thought that disassembling a piece of art can increase its value? MSCHF had recently cut out all 88 spots from a Damien Hirst print and sold them for US$480 each. The remaining canvas- a piece of white paper with 88 holes, is currently available at auction online with a starting bid of US$120,000 and US$172,900 as the current bid. The print’s original cost was only around US$30,000.
MSCHF cut out all 88 spots from Damien Hirst’s print
The artwork originally looked like this
Hirst is well-known for his ‘spot paintings’
MSCHF is a group of 10 offbeat creatives based in Brooklyn, New York. Since its launch in 2016, the company has come out with numerous viral projects and products.
MSCHF’s most recent attention-grabbing project was the Nike Air Max 97 ‘Jesus Shoes’, an all-white sneaker filled with Holy Water from the River Jordan. The shoes sold out within 15 minutes of its release, despite each sneaker costing US$1450. ‘Jesus Shoes’ became one of the ‘most-searched shoes’ on Google after the rapper Drake showed off his pair.
MSCHF spent US$30,484 to purchase Damien Hirst’s signature colourful spot print and cut all 88 spots out, selling each for US$480 online. The disassembled pieces were sold out within minutes.
The ‘Jesus Shoes’ are injected with Holy Water
All the spots cut out from the painting were sold
The blank canvas with 88 holes is offered online with a starting bid of US$126,500
The blank canvas (dimensions 118 x 86cm) that the spots were cut off from is currently on offer in an online auction. Apart from Damien Hirst’s signature, the letters ‘MSCHF’ can also be seen on the canvas, signed by the team responsible for the creation. With only 2 days left before the auction closes, the bid has risen to US$172,900.
By ‘destroying’ Hirst’s piece, MSCHF has increased the price of the painting from US$30,485 to US$42,240. Once the blank canvas is sold, the painting will be worth over US$200,000.
As Blockchain is becoming increasingly popular in the art industry, many have suggested the idea of ‘shared ownership’ for artworks- treating artwork as stocks and owners as shareholders. MSCHF’s ‘shredded Damien Hirst’ project has demonstrated the possibility of the art world having a stock market of its own.
MSCHF’s project shows that the art world might be able to have a stock market of its own
Damien Hirst’s For Heaven’s Sake, a life-size platinum cast of an infant human skull pavé-set with brilliant-cut pink and fine white diamonds
Damien Hirst’s works have often aroused much controversy. Not only has he used materials such as sharks, dead sheep and human skulls, but he has also created fake sunken treasures and claimed that they had been in the ocean for 2000 years. Perhaps MSCHF wanted to handle Hirst’s work just like how he handled them himself.